Friday, March 23, 2012

Rick Hansen Monument unveiled Monday

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

The community is invited to join City Council members, dignitaries, sponsors, and Rick Hansen himself as the new Rick Hansen monument is unveiled Monday, March 26 at 11 a.m. at the Tourism Discovery Centre.

The steel 12-foot high monument commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the 1985-1987 Man in Motion Tour around the world, which raised $26 million for spinal cord research and inspired millions of people. It will stand at the Tourism Discovery Centre as a permanent commemoration to Rick Hansen.

The City has collected $68,000 in pledges from community sponsors, including $25,000 from Taseko Mines Limited, to fully cover the cost of the project.

We are so proud to have a hometown hero like Rick Hansen,” says Councillor Surinderpal Rathor, who collected the pledges. “He is an incredible inspiration to us all. And it was in this spirit of commemoration that major sponsors and community members generously donated to make this monument a reality. This was truly a community project, and from the bottom of my heart, I wish to thank each and every donor for their contribution. Your generosity is so greatly appreciated.”

The unveiling event begins at 11 a.m. Monday, March 26 with the arrival of Rick Hansen, and includes songs in honour of Hansen, the presentation of gifts, and a thank you to sponsors.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to the celebration!
I drove out to the tourism center yesterday to see where the monument is sitting and I was surprised to see that not only was it wrapped in a blue tarp but onsite there is 24 hour security provided by PD Security. I can see the reason for the tarp to keep it a surprise but 24 hour security? Wouldn't it be cheaper to put some of that metal construction type fencing you see around it? Thanks so much to all that donated but this has to be a huge unnecessary expense. About $3000-$4000 by my calculations. (4 days at $30-40. That temporary fencing you can rent should be much cheaper and do the same trick. Heck they should have asked me I would have sat there for $2000 lol ;)

Anonymous said...

Did PD Security perhaps donate their time? Since you own a security business Steve, you should know if it was put out to tender or not. At least one would hope it was put out to tender if it was not donated.

Steve Forseth said...

Thanks for your comments...

Anonymous #2 - my security company was not asked by the City of WL to put in a bid for security at the Rick Hansen Memorial so it is entirely *possible* that PD Security donated their time... but of course, we don't know 100% for sure

Steve